Pietila is the third sister in the family to play golf at a high level. While her brothers were hockey players — “I can skate, but that’s about it,” she said — golf was her only sport from the age of 4. She arrived at Brighton ready to make an impact on a talented team, receiving honorable mention all-state as a freshman.

Her goals now were her goals way back then.

“I’m gonna play golf in college and hopefully go pro after that, is my plan,” said Pietila, whose two older sisters played for the University of Tennessee.

Golf was just one of four sports Fortushniak was involved in when she entered high school.

In addition to golf, she played hockey, basketball and softball. Fortushniak was the No. 2 golfer on the varsity, but it was the only Brighton team in the last 13 seasons to miss the state tournament.

While she was shooting in the high 80s and low 90s, she was encouraged enough by her potential in golf to give up her other three sports.

“My freshman year coming in, I didn’t know what practicing really was for golf and how to get better,” Fortushniak said. “Now, with the help of some of my golf coaches and coach (Paul) Parsell and my parents, they’ve molded me into a great golfer and helped me become as good a player as I am.

“I’ve always had a dream to play on the LPGA (tour). I figured golf you can go farther in, get a career in it. I’ve always loved golfing with my dad. I guess everything fell into place after my freshman year. I’m glad I stuck with golf.”

Fortushniak and Pietila would become the cornerstones of Brighton’s best team ever, but they didn’t know each other until Pietila came in as a freshman two years ago.

“We started to get to know each other,” Pietila said. “She’s a good friend to me. I feel like golf brought us really close, because it’s something we both have in common. I really appreciate her friendship. I hope I can have it for a long time.”

As good friends, it never became an issue between them when Parsell had to decide which of his two returning all-staters would play in the No. 1 grouping this season. Most of the time, it was Fortushniak, who was playing better early in the season.

“We get along great,” Fortushniak said. ‘We never let a round define our friendship or anything. I think it’s great to have that competition. We’re both co-Players of the Year, we’re both all-state. We’re pretty matched up. It’s great having her on the team. She brings leadership qualities, as well, and brings laughter and plenty of other things that are great and we need on this team.”

Fortushniak averaged 76.33 for 18 holes and 37 for nine holes, tying the school nine-hole record with a round of 33 at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc.

Pietila averaged 77.25 and 38.4, winning the regional championship and finishing eighth in the state tournament.

As a team, Brighton finished in second place in Division 1, eclipsing a third-place finish in 1992 as the best in school history.

“Those two, as a tandem over the last couple of years, have been great for our program,” Parsell said. “They helped build our program to the best finish Brighton has ever had. I’m gonna miss Heather. I’m grateful to have Annie back next year. We’ll look for her for more leadership on and off the course next year.

“To have those two at the top, they’d be No. 1 on just about every single team in the state. To have two of them, usually, you get only one of that type of player. There’s usually a runaway No. 1. With those two, we really had two No. 1s playing.”